Tim May wrote:
I did some more digging on various Florida sites which discuss absentee ballots.
[snip]
If the voter is unable to mail or personally deliver the ballot, the voter may designate in writing a person to return the ballot. The designated person may NOT return more than two (2) absentee ballots per election, other than his or her own ballot, except that additional ballots may be returned for members of the designee's immediate family (as defined in the section on requesting absentee ballots). The designee must provide a written authorization from the voter as well as present his or her own picture identification.
So if the Americans aboard the International Space Station were civilians from Florida, their franchise could be accommodated so long as they had willing "immediate family..."? Do those designees have to meet voter qualifications? i.e. could Joe Astronaut's 8yrold daughter (and Freedom user, of course) fill out daddy's ballot and take it to her local grade school voting place so long as she had daddy's written authorization? Given that many astronauts are active service members, how do they fulfill the following:
If the FPCA is not available, phone or send a written request to the Supervisor of Elections Office, 300 E. 4th Street, Room 112, Panama City, FL 32401-3093. ... U.S. Embassies and Consulates can assist in completing, witnessing, notarizing and mailing FPCA forms, absentee ballots and other election materials. Federal portions of general election and presidential preference primary ballots voted by persons outside the U.S. are counted if postmarked no later than election day and received within 10 days of the election.
No mention of whether immediate family members can be "designated" (power of attorney?) Think of the awful jading lesson our children might learn if they found out their hero, Joe Astronaut, most-patriotic-man-in-the-universe didn't, or more importantly, *couldn't* perform his civic duty.